The third-ever “Road To UFC” tournament has its finalists set, and also a date revealed for when they will compete to earn a contract with the fight promotion.
Talent from across Asia in the strawweight, flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight brackets met for semi-final bouts as part of the “Road To UFC” tournament on Friday evening from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The winners punched their ticket to the promotion’s November 23rd card at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, where the finals will take place as part of a “Fight Night” card. Those who succeed in the grand finals will officially ink a contract to join the UFC roster, ending a year-long quest to joining the promotion.
Here’s how the action on Friday went:
Xie Scores Knockout To Meet Featherweight Zhu In Finals
China is highly represented in the “Road To UFC” finals, including the featherweight bracket where it will be the sole country in action. This was confirmed Friday after Zhu Kangjie and Xie Bin walked away from wins at the APEX.
Xie closed the show with the sole finish of the tournament’s semi-final fights, putting away Masuto Kawana in the first round with a pair of hard right hooks.
Xie floored Kawana with a right hook late in the opening round, then put him to sleep with a second shot just moments later. The hard knockout finish came just a few minutes after Xie found himself in trouble, getting dropped early in the fight with a left hand from Kawana.
Former ONE Championship talent Xie is now just one win away from a UFC contract, an opportunity he has been chasing for years. He notably fought in the 2022 “Road To UFC” tournament and also appeared in the 2021 season of “Dana White’s Contender Series,” but didn’t get signed to the promotion following either appearance.
Zhu had a razor-thin split decision against Shin Haraguchi, competing in a fight that was a clear matchup of styles. Haraguchi entered the fight with a wrestling gameplan, trying roughly two dozen takedowns and controlling pockets of the fight on the ground. Zhu was more focused on striking, finding his most success by landing shots on the feet.
Haraguchi was hoping to win this year’s “Road To UFC” tournament after losing in the 2023-24 finals against Rongzhu. His two pro losses have both emerged from fights in the tournament.
Jenisuly vs. You Set For Bantamweight Finals
Balgyn Jenisuly will try to go all the way in his second “Road To UFC” tournament attempt when he meets You Su-young in the bantamweight finals.
Jenisuly, who lost in the 2023 bracket’s opening round via split decision, got past Tokitaka Nakanishi on scorecards this weekend. Jenisuly had the better striking moments but struggled in grappling exchanges against Nakanishi, making the fight close in the judge’s eyes.
Jenisuly is now on a three-fight winning streak, including a submission win he earned earlier in the ongoing tournament against Li Yunfeng. Nakanishi came into this tournament after capturing a regional belt in the notable Japanese promotion Pancrase late last year.
You snuck past Daermisi Zhawupasi with a decision win to earn a grand final spot. The Korean fighter earned numerous takedowns in the first and third rounds but failed to do much with the position due to Zhawupasi’s ability to stand up quickly. This left him mainly needing to succeed through a back-and-forth stand-up battle, with the bantamweights being nearly equal statistically in the striking department.
Korea’s You overcame former RIZIN talent Shohei Nose earlier this year via decision to get into this weekend’s semi-final bout. The loss on Friday ended Zhawupasi’s second “Road To UFC” bracket run, similarly getting eliminated in the tournament’s semi-finals last year as well.
Korea’s Choi To Face Sahota In Flyweight Finals
Former Cage Warriors talent Kiru Singh Sahota will take on undefeated Korean prospect Choi Dong-hoon in the finals of the flyweight bracket.
Choi had a hard-fought win, getting past India’s Angat Bisht after a back-and-forth fight on the feet. After a rough first round for Choi, including a right hook that caused noticeable bleeding on his face, he upped his output in the later rounds and scored a pair of knockdowns to snag a split decision win.
“To tell the truth, in the first round I felt very stiff,” Choi said through an interpreter. “But in the second round that’s when I started warming up and was able to execute what we practiced.”
Choi, a 25-year-old prospect who only debuted in MMA three years ago, got past 2023-24 “Road To UFC” finalist Jiniushiyue in the tournament’s earlier round.
Sahota used his reach advantage to out-land Ruel Panales throughout their three-round clash. The United Kingdom-based fighter had a close performance in his previous tournament bout, getting by Yin Shuai with a split decision result in May. Panales, the sole remaining fighter from the Philippines this weekend, received a bye through the quarter-final round after opponent Toki Matsui missed weight by six pounds.
China’s Feng, Shi To Meet In Strawweight Bout
The strawweight finals are, similar to the featherweight tournament, solely made up of prospects from China. Feng Xiaocan and Shi Ming walked away with wins on Friday evening via decision.
In one of the many close split decision outcomes of the evening, Shi got past former training partner Dong Huaxiang in the co-main event. Shi battled against the grappling-heavy style of Dong, which allowed her to take the fight down four times. It was noted on the official broadcast that Dong faced a setback part-way through the bout, mentioning a hand injury to her corner after the second round.
The result on Friday marked Dong’s first loss since 2018, ending an impressive streak of 11 victories. Shi went the distance in her previous fight as well, beating Seo Ye-dam in May.
22-year-old Feng overcame Miki Motono in a rematch, winning on scorecards after three rounds. The tall and towering Feng used her striking to gain an early lead against Motono, who struggled to keep up on the feet. Motono was able to get some work on the ground late in the fight, including a guillotine choke attempt in the final seconds of the bout, but didn’t do enough to steal the fight via decision.
Feng was meeting Motono for the second time within a year, as the duo met on a Chinese regional card in late 2023. In that meeting, Feng ended Motono’s winning streak with a third-round armbar. China’s Feng had a quick outing in her opening round bout earlier this year, stopping Kiran Singh in just over a minute. Motono, like flyweight fighter Ruel Panales, bypassed the quarter-finals due to an opponent being disqualified from the tournament.
Quick Results
Episode 6 (11:00PM EDT / 8:00PM PDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 10: Xie Bin def. Masuto Kawana via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:17) (Featherweight Semi-Final)
Bout 9: Shi Ming def. Dong Huaxiang via Decision, Split (Strawweight Semi-Final)
Bout 8: Zhu Kangjie def. Shin Haraguchi via Decision, Split (Featherweight Semi-Final)
Bout 7: Feng Xiaocan def. Miki Motono via Decision, Unanimous (Strawweight Semi-Final)
Bout 6: Samandar Murodov def. Jonathan Piersma via Decision, Unanimous
Episode 5 (9:00PM EDT / 6:00PM PDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 5: Jenisuly Balgyn def. Tokitaka Nakanishi via Decision, Unanimous (Bantamweight Semi-Final)
Bout 4: Choi Dong-hoon def. Angad Bisht via Decision, Split (Flyweight Semi-Final)
Bout 3: You Su-young def. Daermisi Zhawupasi via Decision, Split (Bantamweight Semi-Final)
Bout 2: Kiru Singh Sahota def. Ruel Panales via Decision, Unanimous (Flyweight Semi-Finals)
Bout 1: Danni McCormack def. Yan Qihui via Decision, Unanimous
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